John Swartwout was minding his own business—scheming against the United States government with his friend, vice president Aaron Burr—when a senator slandered him as a scoundrel. A scoundrel! What was Swartwout to do? Challenge the senator to a duel, of course. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Fabrizio Paterlini – Veloma Jahzzar – Fastest Man on Earth* Josh Woodward – Oh Mallory* Yair Yona – Pharoah 2011 Chris Zabriskie – Prelude No. 23 *modified for the podcast.
No insult in history has provoked more bloodshed than one man telling another, you're not a real man.
Whaaaat?
Men would scream in reply.
In 12th century Scandinavia, men would settle such an insult by fighting to the death.
At a crossroads.
In France during the 14th and 15th centuries, packs of knights would force each other to enter a duel, or else admit that he was not a real man and give up his shoes as a forfeit.
In Renaissance Italy, Fiore Deliberi wrote down a gentlemans rules of fighting and duelling in a book called the Flos Dualatorum for the ease of the reader.
The Flos dulatorum came with illustrations of animals who explained in rhyme how to sword fight and wrestle.
It might seem funny now, but for many centuries, if a man described your genitals as pocket sized, there was no other recourse available than to run screaming at him with a sword.
Such is the struggle of man.
You're listening to something true stories from the footnotes of history, written by Duncan Fife and read by Alex Ashby.
This weeks episode, entourage.
You might not have heard the name John Swartouthe nobody in John Swartouts time had really heard of it either.
But everyone did know the name of his best friend, Aaron Burr, the third vice president of the United States.
Swartout had been a longtime member of Burrs entourage, along with his brothers, the sensational Swartout brothers.
His duties as part of Burrs squad included nothing.
Aaron Burr was roundly disliked in his time.
He was considered ruthlessly ambitious and the archetypal career politician.
The aspersions cast upon him were both vicious and correct.
But once Aaron Burr did put self interest aside to step up in a time of public crisis, yellow fever had broken out in lower Manhattan, thought to be the result of a contaminated and subpar water supply system.